Pursing-seine.



APPLICATION FILED NOV: 1, 1902.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

=30 MODEL.

1 WITNESSES: INVENT'OHI a. @M, nrzzzzm F ATTORNEYS.

No. 721,517. I PATBNTED T11R24, 1903.

, W. F. HARRIS. I

PURSING SBINE.

APPLIUATION FILED NOV.1,1902. I no MODEL.

PATENTED FEB. 24,1903.

p F. HARRIS.

PURSING SHINE. APPLICATION IILE'D NOV. 1, 1902.

3 sums-sum a.

50 MODEL.

W/TNESSES/E W. a.

I BY

A 77' OHNE Y 8.

foot of the seine.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. HARRIS, OF GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PURSlNG-SEINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 721,517 dated February 24, 1903.

Application filed November 1, 1902. Serial No. 129,650. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Gloucester, in the county of Essexand State of Massachusetts, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Pursing-Seines, of which the following is a specification.

I have devised certain improvements in pursing-seines whereby great defects incident to the use of seines of the ordinary construction are overcome and highly important advantages attained.

In the accompanying drawings,three sheets, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan View illustrating the operation of my invention in practical use. Fig. 2 is a side View illustrating one stage of the operation of pursing the seine. Fig. 3 is a side view illustrating another stage in which. the seine'is completely pursed. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a portion or a section of the seine, the same being shown extended vertically. Fig. 5 is a perspective View showing the seine in the'position indicated in Fig. 3-that is to say, completely pursed. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the operation of the,

seine. Fig. 7 is a view illustrating the attachment of the hauling and pursing line to the Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the operation of the ordinary or old form of seine upon which mine is an improvement.

The pursing-seines such as are used in the mackerel and .menhaden fisheries are nets ranging usually from nine hundred to fifteen hundred feet in length and from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty feet in depth or width and are necessarily used in deep water. They are provided with floats at the top and with heavy weights at the bottom, which are constructed in the form of rings weighing some five pounds each and serving as attachments and guides for the. hauling and-pursing rope or line. When such rope is drawn in, the foot or weighted lower edge of the seine is drawn together or pursed, so that the entire seine forms a bag or pocket I designed to surround and inclose the fish.

In practice such seines are set out by the aid of two boats, one a dory or small boat and the other a larger row-boat, in which the seine is carried, the larger boat being rowed away from the dory in a great circle around the school or shoal of fish. The ends of the seine are finally brought together and attached to the side of the row-boat. The boats crew then haul in on the pursing line or rope, a winch being usually employed as an aid in this laborious operation.. Owing chiefly to the resistance ofiered by the heavy metal rings attached to thef'oot of the seine, the effect of the continued hauling and tension on the pursing-line is to draw the boat (see Fig. 8) toward the school of fish and forward intothe same or up to-its edge, as there illus trated." Thefish are thus frightened and seek every possible means of escape, one being to descend far enough to pass out under the not, while large numbers escape in the space beneath the boat.- It is to avoid this result,.especially to prevent the boat being drawn over to or close to'a school of fish, that I have devised my seine, whose construction and operation will now be described.

I dispenseentirely with heavy weights or guide-rings at the foot of-the seine, and I construct the seine practically in two parts A B, (see Fig. 4:)that vis to say, while the seine may be of the usual length it is divided lengthwiseby a line orrope which forms the foot of the main-portion or body A, which is also provided with floats 2 at the top in the usual way. The foot-line 1 is provided with a series of small weights 2, which serve in practice to carry down the part A and to hold it duly'distended in the water, as indicated in Figs.2, 3,.and'5. The part B of the seine which depends from the foot-line 1 of them ain portion A, I term the pursing portion, since its particular function is to gather or draw in'and also lift the part B, so as to closethe bottom of the pocket formed by the seine, 'asindicated in Fig.5. This pursin'g portion B is preferably constructed of lighter twine than the body portion A, and it is also of slightly-greater depth or width. The hauling and pursing line 3 may be attached to the foot of the pursing portion B, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 7, it being adapted to slide in its attachments. In Fig. 4. the line 3 is shown passing slidably through small. guide-rings attached to the foot of part B.

Any suitable guides may be employed for this purpose, and, if necessary, they may be weighted to a small degree. In Fig. 7 the pursing-line 3 is shown rove through the lower edge of part B of the seine, so that the portion 5 of the seine is left entirely free on the pursing-line. The latter is attached permanently to the seine at 4:. In both casesto wit, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 and also that in Fig. 7-1 prefer that the central portion of the foot of the pursing part 13 shall be left free, as thus indicated.

The seine is carried and paid out from a row-boat C (see Fig. 6) in the same manner as seines of the usual construction, the buoy end of the seine being held or retained by a dory X, as indicated, while the boat 0 is rowed in a circle around a shoal Z of fish. As the row-boat proceeds the crew left in the dory X begin to pull on the pursing-line 3, and thus begin to draw in or gather the pursing portion B of the seine at the very start. Consequently by the time the row-boat C has completed its circuit, as indicated in Fig. 1, the pursing portion B has been well drawn in around and under the school of fish Z. The ends of the seine being then attached in the usual way to the side of the boat 0, the final operation of pursing the part B of the seine instantly takes place-that is to say, the hauling and pursing line 3 is drawn upward and the part B of the seine is gathered and pursed and drawn upward so quickly that the fish are prevented from escaping in the usual way. To accomplish this result in the most expeditious and economical manner, I employ a weight 6, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) which is attached to the free end of the hauling-line 3 and allowed to pass over the boatthat is to say, so soon as the ends of the seine have been attached to the side of the boat, as before stated, the weight 6 is thrown over the opposite side of the boat and descending with great rapidity the line 3 applies great tractive and lifting force to the free portion B of the seine, so that it is almost instantly gathered and drawn upward into the position shown in Fig. 3, whereby all escape of the fish is entirely out off and they are pocketed,as will be understood by reference to Fig. 5. It will be seen that in this operation the attachment of the pursing-line 3 to the foot of the pursing portion B of the seine is important, since the part 5 of the foot which intervenes, the points 4 being left free, forms a loop 5, which is more easily hauled through the water than if the line 3 continued through the foot at the point 5, and practically when the loop thus formed is brought up, asindicated in Fig. 3, the escape of the fish is effectually cut ofi. It will be seen that in the pursing operation the body A of the seine is but little disturbed or drawn out of its normal vertical position, since the tension of the pursing-rope 3 is mainly on the lower, loose, and practically unweighted portion 13 of the seine, which being comparatively light and easily manipulated may be gathered or pursed most expeditiously.

In order to facilitate a rapid descent of the weight 6, attached to the pursing-line 3, and to prevent wear of the latter, I provide pulleys 7, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) which are journaled in arms or brackets attached to one of the thwarts of the boat 0. Any convenient arrangement of the pulleys may be employed, and it is practicable to entirely dispense with them and to allow the line 3 to run on the sides or gunwales of the boat. It is obvious that the weight of the weight 6 may be varied and that it will depend to a degree upon the depth or width of the seine and some other conditions. In any case its descent will be sufficient to effect the final step in the pursing operation with as much rapidity as practicable.

It will be seen that by reason of the rapid pursing of the seine, as well as the provision of the loose or lightly-weighted lower portion B, I avoid the disastrous result indicated in Fig. 8-that is to say, the hauling of the boat to or into the school of fish. In brief, the comparative ease with which the pursing portion 13 may be hauled up and the inertia and resistance of the boat with its broad side to the water are sufficient to prevent the boat moving laterally toward the opposite side or middle portion of the seine to any great extent at the time the weight 6 is let loose, so that the seine as a whole retains very nearly the circular form in which it is paid out of the rowboat, and the only effect of the hauling in and pursing will be to draw the boat slightly toward the school Z of fish, whereby the circle may be reduced to an oval, as indicated in Fig. 1. In any casea movement of the boat relative to the opposite middle portion of the seine is never sufficient to frighten the fish and endanger their capture, as with seines of the usual construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1'. The improved pursing-seine having a body portion provided with floats at its upper edge and small weights at its foot, a depending pursing portion, a hauling andpursing line connected with the foot of the pursing portion, and the weight attached to the free end of said line, substantially as shown and described.

2. The improved pursing-seine comprising an upper or body portion having floats at its upper edge and a foot-line at its lower edge, and provided with a series of small weights attached to said foot-line, and a free portion 13 which is pendent from the aforesaid body portion, and a pursing-line which is slidably connected with the middle part of the foot of the pursing portion B, and permanently attached at 4, that is to say at points intermediate of the middle part 5 and the ends of the pursing portion 13.

3. The improved pursing-seine comprising hauling and pursing line'at its foot; substantially as shown and described.

5. The fishing apparatus comprisinga seine provided with a depending pursing portion and the hauling-line connected with the foot of the latter and having a weight attached to its free end, substantially as shown and 20 described.

WILLIAM F. HARRIS.

Witnesses:

SoLoN C. KEMON, AMos W. HART, 

